California Considers Supermarket Bag Fees

What if it cost you a quarter for every bag at the grocery store, would you change your shopping habits and bring your own bags? A steep bag fee for both paper and plastic is now being considered by state lawmakers.

In these belt-tightening times, a trip to the store could cost you more.

The Assembly Natural Resources Committee just passed a proposal to add 25-cents to every bag you need for your purchases.

"That's ridiculous. I think the prices are high enough in this economy. I'm a single mom with four children, and I get a lot of groceries every month, and I think if they charge 25-cents per bag, it's really going to add up in the long run," said single mom Andrea Malaspino.

You can avoid the fee by simply bringing your own bags.

The idea is to get Californians away from using an estimated 19 billion plastic bags a year that mostly end up littering neighborhoods, coastlines and landfills.

Less than five percent is recycled, according the state Integrated Waste Management Board.

"There's some studies done that showed there's more plastic in the ocean than plankton in some parts. So it's been a wake-up call. Other countries are doing their part, so it's really up to the West Coast," said Bryan Early from Californians Against Waste. "So it's really up to the West Coast now."

Lawmakers have previously tried to impose a fee on plastic bags. This proposal includes paper. Assemblywoman Julia Brownley wrote the bill.

"De-forestation, and other kinds of things like that, we don't feel as though paper bags is a good alternative when really what we want is for people to bring their own reusable bags," said Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (D) Santa Monica.

Taxpayers already spend $300 million a year cleaning up litter; the fee would pay for some of that. While shoppers on welfare and food stamps would be exempt from the bag fee, Larry Lester thinks the 25-cent charge would be enough to motivate him to change his ways since he's watching his budget.

"I could live with that. I could bring my own stuff in, carry it out, empty it out and bring it back again. I could live with that," said Lester.

When Ireland instituted a bag fee, usage dropped 90 percent.

If the bag bill does become law, the new fee will take effect in July of next year.